Republican attorney general candidate Cynthia Coffman’s boss is taking heat over gay marriage so it was interesting to see a $53 donation to her campaign from Dave Montez, director of the state’s largest gay-rights group.

Cynthia Coffman, the chief deputy attorney general, is running for the top job in the office. Her boss, John Suthers, is term limited. (Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post)

“Do you know him?” I asked Coffman in an e-mail.

“I do,” she said.

Montez, the director of One Colorado, said he made the personal donation at a birthday fundraiser for Coffman, who turned 53. He said he met Coffman at an event sponsored by the gay GOP group, Log Cabin Republicans, and decided to accompany a friend who was attending the birthday gala.

“I think it’s important to reach across the aisle and have relations with Democrats and Republicans,” he said.

Montez noted that he also has personally donated to Coffman’s Democratic opponent, Don Quick, the former district attorney for Adams County. That donation: $550.

Democrat Bernie Buescher and Gov. Bill Ritter after the governor, right, in December 2008 appointed the former state lawmaker to serve as secretary of state. The post became open when Republican Mike Coffman resigned the office after winning a seat in Congress. (The Denver Post)

Democrat Bernie Buescher, the king of irony when it comes to his job with the Republican attorney general’s office, is leaving state government next month but the Grand Junction native made it clear he’s not retiring.

“I’ve tried that a couple of times and failed pretty miserably,” he said. “I suspect I’ll be working somewhere, doing something. I may not be full time.”

Buescher has a long history with the state, most recently as deputy attorney general for state services. As part of his job, Buescher oversees the attorneys who represent Secretary of State Scott Gessler, the Republican who beat Buescher in 2010.

Add Cynthia Coffman to the list of politicos whose faces who will be dominating Colorado’s airwaves this fall: The Republican Attorneys General Association has reserved a stunning $2.6 million TV buy to promote her candidacy.

Attorney general candidate Cynthia Coffman makes her pitch to delegates at the GOP state assembly in Boulder April 12. (Coffman campaign)

Coffman, currently the No. 2 in the AG’s office, faces Democrat Don Quick in November for the open seat for attorney general. The winner will succeed Republican John Suthers, who is term limited and has been highly visible in recent weeks for his skirmishes over gay marriage.

The Republican Attorneys General Association is under fire in Colorado and Alabama for earlier donations to political-action committees. In Colorado, the money was used to hammer former Congressman Tom Tancredo in the governor’s primary.

The $2.6 million investment for Coffman is more than four times the amount spent by any candidate ever running for attorney general in Colorado, Quick said, and is believed to be the first time outside money has played a role in the race.

“I don’t think Colorado voters are going to like a group from the outside trying to buy the attorney general’s office,” said Quick, the former Adams County district attorney. “There may be a real estate boom right now but the attorney general’s office isn’t up for sale.”

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers spoke about the state’s under-fire same-sex marriage ban last week mostly through official statements in response to losing court rulings. But Monday, he was talking to reporters left and right, after recent events shined a big spotlight on his uneasy role as the man charged with defending the Colorado marriage amendment’s constitutionality.

This week, though, the Republican’s office decided on the next step. It asked the Colorado Supreme Court Monday to step in and halt the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples by the clerks in Boulder, Denver and Pueblo counties. As reporters wrote about this new development, Suthers spoke with several of them, giving forthright answers about how he sees his role in the process, and about the potentially dimming prospects for Colorado’s ban. Gov. John Hickenlooper and a plethora of Democrats have said Suthers should drop the state’s defense and allow last week’s Adams County ruling against the ban to stand.

Suthers told The Post’s John Ingold: “I understand the emotions. I understand the sense of inevitability around the issue. But we simply cannot, as a matter of respect for the rule of law, ignore the processes by which laws are changed.”

Former Adams County District Attorney Don Quick, surrounded by metro area law enforcement officials during a news conference on marijuana a year ago, is running for Colorado attorney general.

Democrat Don Quick became the first candidate on the “down ticket” to place a television buy for the 2014 election, spending $150,000 on statewide cable and satellite television in his matchup against Republican Cynthia Coffman.

In a news release, Quick’s campaign manager, Joe Kabourek, said the television time will allow Coloradans to get to know the former district attorney for Adams and Broomfield counties.

Attorney general candidate Cynthia Coffman makes her pitch to delegates at the GOP state assembly in Boulder April 12. (Coffman campaign)

The race will decide the successor to the current attorney general, Republican John Suthers, who is term limited.

Coffman, his top deputy, ran unopposed for GOP nomination after state Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, withdrew from the race after garnering just 31 percent of votes at the GOP Assembly in April. Quick was uncontested in the Democratic primary.

State Sen. Jessie Ulibarri and his partner, Louis, were among several Colorado couples who traveled to Boulder Thursday to receive a marriage license.

In the wake of Wednesday’s 10th U.S. Circuit Court ruling that struck down Utah’s ban on gay marriage, Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall has doled out marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The appeals court covers Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.

The clerk’s offices in the cities of Lafayette and Longmont will start issuing same-sex marriage licenses Friday.

Still, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement late Wednesday that the state’s constitutional prohibition on same-sex marriages remains in effect.

In a series of tweets Thursday, Ulibarri’s marriage became public. Ulibarri, a Democrat from Westminster, is currently serving in his first-term. He and Louis have two children.

Republican attorney general candidate Cynthia Coffman said she welcomes Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s assistance in helping her raise money for her campaign, but that doesn’t mean they agree on everything.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, during the 2013 State of the State address, is coming to Colorado Friday for a fundraiser for attorney general candidate Cynthia Coffman. (Ross D. Franklin, The Associated Press)

Brewer will be in Denver Friday for a Coffman event, infuriating some Coloradans because of the governor’s stance on a variety of issues, from immigration to gay rights. Several groups have asked Coffman to cancel her fundraiser Friday at The Palm restaurant.

“Is Cynthia Coffman wanting to turn Colorado into Arizona?” One Colorado, the state’s largest gay-rights organization, asked. “Colorado is not Arizona. We respect our neighbors and embrace diversity as a strength. Let’s stand together, and send a clear message that Jan Brewer’s extremism has no place in Colorado politics.”

Coffman agreed that Colorado is not Arizona.

“The fact that she’s going to come and do an event with me for 90 minutes doesn’t mean I agree with her on everything,” Coffman told The Denver Post. “It’s not about me endorsing her agenda. It’s about her doing something for me as a successful elected Republican woman. There aren’t that many, as you know.”

Women are underrepresented in Congress and as governor and attorney general, although Coffman noted that of the five female governors, four are Republican.

Clearly bruised by the result, Waller had a sharp exchange the following week on the House floor when Democratic Rep. Dan Pabon of Denver made a joke about the assembly vote. Pabon later apologized for his remark.

Waller said that setback was “obviously” a major factor in his decision, which he came to on Saturday after deliberating with his wife Jennifer.

“I really thought I would do much better,” Waller said of the assembly vote. “The result made it more difficult for the people backing me to have faith and trust in the long-term result.”

Cynthia Coffman, the chief deputy attorney general, is running for the top job in the office. Her boss, John Suthers, is term limited. (Kathryn Scott Osler/The Denver Post)

Chief Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Coffman nearly walked away with the GOP nomination for AG over the weekend, amassing 69 percent of the support from state delegates.

The total far outpaced her rival, state Rep. Mark Waller of Colorado Springs, who almost failed to make the June 24 primary ballot as he captured just 30.7 percent of the vote.

“I am running for Attorney General because the office is not some political training ground for another higher office or a place to make policy in order to fulfill one’s political ambitions,” Coffman, who has served in the AG’s office since 2005, said in a veiled dig at Waller. “It is a serious place where serious actions are taken to preserve and protect the people of Colorado.”

On Saturday, Waller was slammed in a handout to delegates created by former state Rep. Doug Bruce, who was ousted from office by Waller in a 2008 GOP primary. The handout featured a silly photo of Waller and questioned his time in the military, characterized him as a political opportunist and endorsed Coffman.

As Chief Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and state Rep. Mark Waller have attended forums and offered stump speeches at county assemblies all across Colorado, Republican AG John Suthers has mostly remained out of the spotlight in the GOP primary between the two.

That changes Saturday when Suthers will second the nomination of Coffman at the GOP state assembly in Boulder — a move that has Waller shaking his head. Both are running for Suthers’ seat; he is term limited.

“I think Republicans need a strong statewide woman candidate in this race and Cythina has a deep understanding of the AG’s office,” said Suthers. “I’m very supportive of her.”

But Waller, a Colorado Springs Republican and former House minority leader, noted Friday that Suthers had told him he would not stand on stage with any candidate at the state assembly.

“I’m a little disappointed, he gave me his word,” said Waller, who made headlines Thursday at the Capitol as the House passed his felony DUI measure — an issue he’s championed since last year.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.